1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to a switch integrated controller for energizing an external electrical device in a controlled manner.
2. Description of the Prior Art
U.S. Pat. No. 5,329,082 discloses a conventional timer controller for controlling an electrical device. The controller includes a mounting plate which is accommodated in a housing to mount thereon the timer with a rotary switch, in addition to an array of terminals which are adapted to be connected by way of wires to a power circuit including the electric device and a power source thereof. The switch is inserted in the power circuit to selectively energize and deenergize the electric device in response to a particular position of a time dial of the timer. In the meanwhile, there has been an increasing demand of providing a wide variety of sophisticated controllers which are designed specifically to have accessory functions in conformity with individual needs at various installation sites. Such controllers are different in their specific functions or components utilized, for example, different timing control schemes, different kinds of timers of either mechanical or electronic type, and so on. However, when the switch is provided in the form of a relay switch which is activated by a trigger signal from the timer, the relay switch as well as the terminals could be common components to these different controllers. This is also true when the controller is provided with a temperature control section other than the timer, which, for example, controls the electric device depending upon a temperature signal from an external temperature sensor. Therefore, it is highly desired to provide different kinds of controllers while using the common terminals and the relay switch in order to reduce a cost of manufacturing the individual controllers, and enable the use of molds which is of simpler configurations than otherwise for production of the controllers.